I remember years ago when my family and I would go on a trip by car somewhere, at how easy it was to get lost or disoriented. Even when all you could do was stop at the nearest gas station and buy a map of the state that you were in at the time. Boy, have times changed. Now we have a thing-a-ma-gig called a GPS.

So like everybody else and probably you to, I had to ask "what is GPS?" Today everybody knows what that means or stands for...Global Positioning Satellite. But back in the day we didn't have that luxury. We had, like they still do today, not only the paper maps at the gas station, but a compass to point us in the right direction.

Heck, you can even remember probably the next step up in technology was the ole reliable "Rand McNally Road Atlas" map book. And you can still get one today. Pretty cool. Now with the advent of GPS Systems and Portable GPS, we have leaped into the future where those things seem obsolete.

Its still nice to have the old map book and compass though, even if its just for old times sake. Since GPS is so very popular now, I thought it appropriate to bring you a review of one of the best GPS units available, to my site. GPS units range in price anywhere from $80 all the way to $400 or more.

But as is my custom with my reviews, I had to find one that was full featured and low cost. All the features of the big high priced ones but yet the best GPS for the money, in a price range that anyone could afford. And of course quality stands supreme in that research as well.

After a couple days of researching many different systems, I found what I was looking for. I landed on the "Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT 5-inch Portable GPS" with free lifetime updates. How cool is that! This very popular unit has all the bells and whistles, and I can't wait to get into all those things for you.

So without further adieu, let's check this bad boy out and see what it can do.

First up the Features:

Now, I found that this is a usable feature of the Garmin 1450 and that is the sunlight readability, 5-inch backlit TFT color touchscreen display. Why do I say that? Because most LCD screens are very hard to read in the bright sunlight of the day. Especially if you have the sun directly on the screen.

Along with the great technology of the touchscreen it also has a real nice resolution in the 5-inch screen of 480 x 272 WQVGA pixels. I think you'll find that a nice feature, but I particularly like the size of the screen myself.

You shouldn't have any problem with getting lost like you did sometimes with the old paper maps because this Garmin comes with preloaded City Navigator NT data for the lower 48 states of the US including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. And you won't run out of things to do and places to go either.

Because it comes with nearly 6 million points of interest, and my favorite, all the restaurants I could ever dream of to eat at built right in the Garmin 1450. And I like to eat! I bet you do to. Man I love this technology.

One of the coolest things about this Garmin Nuvi, and one of the things about it that helped me choose this GPS for review was the fact that it comes with free lifetime maps and traffic updates. I know that some of the others, you have to pay for and, that could significantly increase your investment in a GPS system.

Along with its POI's, and navigation info, it comes with constantly updated traffic info as well. This is a cool feature especially if you need to get around a traffic jam, or accident that may have you sitting for a while. This feature will help re-route you around this heavy traffic to keep you moving.

Now as with most other GPS systems, this one also has Advanced Navigation features including voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, with lane assist and junction view. But the Garmin 1450LMT has an advanced function called the Fuel-Saving ecoRoute.

It will fine tune your route to the shortest ever point A to point B traveling, so you can be sure of fuel saving mileage. This is much better than any of the other ones I looked at. And I think you'll agree that with gas prices at an astounding average right now of $4.15 per gallon, that this is an awesome feature.

It will become even more of a beautiful thing to have as gas prices probably will be going much higher, unfortunately.

This Garmin Nuvi has other cool things including travel tools such as a JPEG picture viewer with a built in USB port to upload those things. Also built in is a world travel clock, currency and measurement converters, as well as a calculator and lots of other goodies. At this time somebody might be wanting to know what the LMT stands for?

LMT stands for Lifetime Maps and Traffic updates. That nice feature I mentioned up there earlier. Next up...

What Can it Do for You:

Well, I could almost answer that in one sentence. This GPS will save you time and money! But wait, don't go yet. Just kidding theres more. With the Garmin 1450LMT navigation is just the start. As I mentioned before this thing has ecoRoute for the most fuel efficient routing ever.

It will also track your fuel usage and more as well as keep track of your mileage. I know most cars today have the mileage feature built in to them as well. But nevertheless its a nice thing to have in case yours goes out for some reason or another. Two is better than one in my book.

Now check this out, as mentioned earlier, it has a JPEG viewer built in. You can tell I'm havin fun now. With the picture viewer you can download pictures of your favorite places from "Garmin Connect Photos" and it will take you to where that exact picture is at. Whichever one you choose. Now thats way cool technology.

Ok, let's just say for example you do get lost. God-forbid, but this is a nice option built in to this Garmin GPS. It has a "Where Am I" option built in to the GPS software. An emergency locator option so you always know your location. Just touch the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates on earth.

Not only that, but it will give you the nearest address, intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. The more I learn about it, the more I believe its the best GPS of all. Amazing that they can pack all these features and options into such a small device!

One of the other nice things it has for us is what Garmin calls the "Garmin Lock". Its an anti-theft, built in option, compatible with the free "Garmin Garage" where you can download custom voices and vehicles for the GPS. Also to enhance your travel experience there are optional plug-in microSD cards as well.

Kinda like the Ever-Ready Bunny:

With the free Garmin map updates and all the awesome features described, it just seems to go on and on. Can anymore be packed into this Garmin? Looks like it to me. Let's continue on with the goodies.

If your like me, you dig the hell out of electronic technology. When we plug this GPS in and fire it up we're met with a vibrant color screen with an intuitive software interface. It meets us with 2 simple questions. "Where To?" and "View Map?" We then touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services.

You then get voice prompted, turn by turn directions. You hear street names spoken that take you straight to your destination. This awesome Garmin 1450LMT not only has City Navigator street maps, nearly 6 million points of interest, and all the other options and features I mentioned earlier, but it also has 2-D and 3-D maps and the speed limit for most major roads in the US and Europe.

Do You Like Eye Candy:

Especially where electronic devices are concerned, cool looking, colorful eye candy is sweet. Well, it seems theres no lack of that with the Garmin 1450LMT either. Now hold on to your underwear for this folks. This awesome device has digital elevation maps built in that show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels.

Giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. Is that great or what. Pretty cool to be able to see the actual land layout just like it looks to you out of your windshield. I don't know about you, but to me that's amazing stuff there. Better than Google Maps. I don't remember any map book ever having that ability.

It seems the Garmin also has the same ability as today's cellphones have. The ability to slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens. Also if all of the above isn't enough, check this out, we can even upload our own POI's. And with the HotFix Satellite prediction, the Garmin Nuvi will calculate your position faster to get you there quicker to your chosen POI.

Oh Don't Leave Yet, We're not Done, There's More:

Yes, theres more to the Garmin 1450LMT. I know this review is getting long so I'll cut back and abbreviate the rest of the features and options to cut down the length some. That doesn't mean the rest is any less exciting for you in terms of the coolness and benefits of this GPS though.

So let's git-r-done.

Multiplicity:

Here are multiple things it can do to enhance your traveling pleasure.

Here's the link where you can download a free copy of the manual for the Garmin 1450LMT.

What are the Pros and Cons:

Pros:

This unit comes with everything you need.

Easy to use and always at the exact location as shown on the map.

Love the big screen and the info that can be displayed on the side such as speed, altitude, etc.

A great unit, the best I have had. I would recommend this GPS to anyone.

Cons:

The update process is very easy but long.

I could not give it a full 5 for the things it fell just a little short on to me.

Most unimpressive feature for me: Adding waypoints to force a particular route is awkward using the "via" feature--a pain but not a show stopper.

The viewing angle is limited, I am often the passenger and I can't see the screen easily unless it is adjusted for me to see it as well

The overall rating for users of this Garmin GPS is 4.5 stars. These reviews were taken from Amazon, and you can read more there.

How Much Should You Expect to Pay?

Amazon always has the best prices. Then you include the free shipping. Right now Amazon's price for the Garmin 1450LMT is *$188.48. If you look at the Garmin website the cost is $240.00. Like I mentioned earlier, affordability was one of my criteria for the review of a GPS. As well as quality. (*At the time of this writing)

Is There a Warranty?

Yes - It has a 1 year limited warranty. However at Amazon they have cheap extended warranties.
The 3 year kind.

Where can You Buy the Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT 5-inch Portable GPS?

You can buy it at Amazon. In fact I don't think you can find a better deal anywhere for the same GPS.Click here

Hope you enjoyed my review of the Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT. If you get yourself one, please come back and tell me how well you like it.

What an extremely informative and detailed review of the Garmin Nuvi. I was looking for a good, decently inexpensive GPS and was having a really hard time picking one. They all look the same to me! Your review really helped me narrow it down as I was already considering a Garmin anyway. Thanks a lot!

Glad all of you have found value in my GPS review. The Garmin 1450LMT really is great value for the money. That is interesting about the traveler bags! I'll have to look into that one. Please, if you purchase one, come back and let me know how you like it. Thanks for the comments guys!

I had the nuvi since Jan 2008. Now I am having problems with the connection at the back of the GPS. It sometimes does not connect properly. It does not always charge with this problem, so I wiggle the cable and then it connects again. Please advise.

Living in Los Angeles, not having a GPS in your car is like not having your head attached to your body- you would be lost without it! I have a navigation system built into my dash so it's always available and easy to update.

thats an excellent review. the problem with technology is by the time you look around and decide which one to buy something new has already come out. and I hate it when I just buy a product and see something better has come up.

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Living in california, not having a GPS in your car is like not having your head attached to your body- you would be lost without it! I have a navigation system built into my dash so it's always available and easy to update.

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